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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26298538">Ghost in the Machine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOfOvercast/pseuds/LadyOfOvercast'>LadyOfOvercast</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ben 10 Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And actually wasn't evil, He's still a jerk though, I'll be going through the rest of the original series with this, Learning to Work Together, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Updates probably gonna be slow, What if Zs'Skayr never escaped the Omnitrix</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:07:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,121</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26298538</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOfOvercast/pseuds/LadyOfOvercast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This summer has been one big adventure after another for Ben Tennyson after he found a strange alien device called the Omnitrix. But things are about to get weird, or at least weirder than usual, when one of Ben’s aliens develops consciousness. This alien, that calls himself Zs’Skayr, is revealed to be trapped within the Omnitrix. With no way to get him out Ben and the gang have to deal with an unwanted companion on their road trip.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ghost in the Machine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ben, Gwen, and their grandpa Max stop off at some totally boring prep school Gwen wants to go to, but Ben just can't keep focused. Not after the nightmare with his spookiest alien. Or the fact he's been hallucinating said alien all day. But things take a strange and scary turn for him when he finally goes Ghostfreak... And Realizes he's not alone in his own head.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Help! I can’t get down!” The cry for help rang out from the trees, drawing one Ben Tennyson and his cousin towards the kid in need. The two looked up at the little boy. What was he doing up there in the first place, Ben wondered.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry! We’ll come up and get you!” His cousin, Gwen, shouted up to the kid to reassure him. Ben, however, looked at her skeptically. </p><p> </p><p>“<em>We</em>?” He was the one that was going to do all the work! He started to walk towards the tree, not waiting for her response but hearing her loudly declare it anyway. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, you’re the one with all those alien heroes at your fingertips!” Ben rolled his eyes as he started turning the dial on the Omnitrix, he needed an alien that could climb trees with ease, so when the watch face landed on Wildmutt he went with it, slamming the face down with his palm, a blinding green light enveloped him, once it faded his cousin decided to pipe up with a smart remark, like usual. “Oooh good thinking, turn into the vicious drooling alien attack dog to rescue the scared kid out of the tree.” He ignored her again, only letting out a light growl before he started scaling the tree. </p><p> </p><p>As much as he hated to admit it, it seemed that Gwen was right. As he got closer to the kid in peril he let out a small, frightened sound and clung tighter to the tree trunk, hiding his face in the bark. Wildmutt had to reassure him that he wasn’t going to hurt him. “It’s okay, I’m here to help get you down!” He told the cowering boy. The kid stopped trembling and became oddly still. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want down.” The voice was different, but familiar. Wildmutt knew that raspy tone from anywhere, but it couldn’t be! Suddenly the kid whipped around to face him, a single purple eye where two should have been. “I want OUT!” He demanded before melting into the tree that shifted and morphed from a healthy, brown bark into something grey and dead looking.  Wildmutt barely managed to avoid the grasp of one of the misshapen branches that looked… Awfully familiar. Doing so pushed his alien form back against the trunk. </p><p> </p><p>“Leave me alone!” He cried. Although he’d escaped the grasp of the malformed branch Wildmutt wasn’t out of the woods yet. </p><p> </p><p>“You can’t get away from me, boy.” A voice, <em> that </em>voice spoke up from directly behind him. But how!? All there was was the trunk! As though to reassure himself he turned around to face the trunk, only to be met with a giant purple eye glaring back at him. In shock Wildmutt leapt from the branch he’d been perched on. But he didn’t get too far, the branch, which he now knew was a hand, caught him and held him in an iron grip, lifting the Vulpimancer up towards the face of his most unsettling alien. Ghostfreak. “You think you’re a hero? You’re just a child playing with powers beyond your comprehension!” The ghostly alien hissed. “What a waste of potential.” Just when Wildmutt thought he couldn’t get any closer to Ghostfreak the all too large alien brought him up to his nonexistent face. “You want to be helpful? Then let me OUT!” He demanded before dropping him into an empty void. </p><p> </p><p>Ben fell from his bunk with a yell and landed in a heap on the old carpeting of the Rust Bucket. It was a dream. Just a dream. Of course it was! Wildmutt couldn’t talk! Wildmutt couldn't even <em>see</em>. And Ghostfreak couldn’t turn into kids or trees or do any of that stuff. But the way Ghostfreak talked… The venom in his words, it felt so real. And just what did he mean he wanted out? Did it mean anything at all? The boy let out a sigh and looked down at the floor. Just a dream. </p><p> </p><p>Just a dream. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Ben stared dejectedly out the window as they drove through some forest. He hadn’t been able to get back to sleep last night, every time he closed his eyes images of the nightmare sprung up in his head. Vaguely he thought he could hear someone calling his name, but it wasn’t until he got whapped in the head with a rolled up newspaper that he was brought out of his thoughts.<br/><br/></p><p>“Earth to dweeb!” Gwen glared, Ben immediately glared back at her for the minor annoyance she’d caused. She, however, was unfazed. “Clean the wax out of your ears!” She continued, unrolling what he’d first thought was a newspaper but turned out to be a… Brochure? What kinda kids school had a <em> brochure </em>? </p><p> </p><p>“You okay, son?” His Grandpa asked from the drivers seat, even taking his eyes off the road to look back at him. Wow, he really must have been out of it for Grandpa to be this concerned. Ben had to think fast to relieve their worries. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I guess I’m still just a little freaked out about that Ghostfreak nightmare…” Ben said in a murmur, glancing to the side to avoid both his cousin and his grandpas gaze. Gwen did not seem nearly as worried as their grandpa. </p><p> </p><p>“Well what do you expect when you wolf down two mega encharidos for a midnight snack?” She wasn’t even looking at him, too busy rereading that stupid brochure for the umpteenth time. Ben scoffed and snatched it from her hands to give it a once over. </p><p> </p><p>“You think you’re so smart.” He scoffed, turning the paper in his hands every which way, as though that would help him understand all of its nonsense better. It didn’t. “Is that why you want to go to this school? It’s nothing but snobs and posers!” Ben exclaimed. </p><p> </p><p>“Bancroft Academy is one of the top schools in the country!” </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! For snobs and posers!” </p><p> </p><p>Gwen let out an exasperated sound as she fought for the brochure, eventually pulling it out of his hands and clutching it to herself like it was a lifeline. What a nerd. “Ben I’m warning you, you better not do <em> anything </em>to embarrass me on this tour of the campus!” Her tone was threatening, and maybe if he were some other kid he would have backed off in fear of retribution. </p><p> </p><p>Ben didn’t think far enough ahead to do such a thing. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t get your shorts in a twist,” He grumbled, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. He did, however, fix his cousin with a grin. “I’ll be on my best behavior.” A mocking tone in his voice that made his cousin frown and groan. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, why doesn’t that make me feel better?” </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Looking around the school it didn’t look like anything special. Just a bunch of fancy looking buildings and junk. And those uniforms the kids were wearing! Ugh, talk about snobsville. The girl giving them the tour had to be the snobbiest of the snobs and the poser… Uh, Queen Poser, yeah, that worked. Not even <em> Gwen </em> was this bad! </p><p> </p><p>“-And recently Bancoft Academy was awarded the <em> prestigious, solid gold </em>Mincoft trophy for top rated prep school on the east coast!” The girl blabbered on. Yada yada, fancy school had a fancy trophy for being so much better than everyone. Big deal! As stupid as it was, Gwen was eating it up, looking around the place like it was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen. Not like all the cool alien stuff mattered or anything. “So you can see why we’re very picky about who we admit.” She said, turning her head to look at Gwen. “So many delude themselves into thinking they are Bancroft material. It’s so sad.” She gave a fake sigh. This girl was somehow even worse than Gwen. Way worse.</p><p> </p><p>The girl looked back out in front of her, oh so proud of her pitiful performance. She probably thought she was coming across as superior but graceful, but honestly she just sounded like a pompous brat. </p><p> </p><p>“Well I have a 4.2 GPA, I’m president of the Computer Club, treasurer of the Science Society, I volunteer at several local charities, AND I’m a member of my schools Jiu Jitsu team!” At first Gwen had been counting off fingers with each impressive item she listed, but at the end she tried to impress the snobbish girl by showing off some of her Jiu Jitsu moves. Ben almost felt bad for his cousin.</p><p> </p><p>Almost.</p><p> </p><p>The girl guiding them around stared at Gwen for a moment before giving her the cringiest smile possible. “How nice for you.” Oof, even by Ben’s standards that was harsh. She didn’t even try to hide the scowl that came immediately after the smile dropped. Still, it was always nice seeing his high and mighty cousin get knocked down a peg or two, so he couldn’t help but snicker a bit. </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>“Ben…” </em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>All merriment ended when he heard that harsh, raspy voice say his name. That was <em> Ghostfreaks </em> voice, Ben knew it anywhere. Flashes of his nightmare sprang to mind, but he shook it off. That couldn’t <em> really </em>happen, right? </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>“Ben…!” </em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>There it was again! Louder and more insistent than before. Despite knowing that the voice couldn’t be out in the real world with him Ben looked around, as if he could find where it was coming from. For a moment Ben thought he saw something dark dart through the air. Too fast to make out any details. Just a bird or something, right? It couldn’t be anything else. This was the real word, not his freaky dream. </p><p> </p><p>“Do <em> you </em>have a question?” The preppy girl asked, bringing Ben back into the moment. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah, Why are there so many kids here during vacation.” Nailed it. He even put a hand on his hip and gave a couple of passing students a pointed look. He was so much better at pretending than she was. She should probably take notes.<br/><br/></p><p>“Attending our prestigious summer school session!” She said simply before turning away from him and walking away, obviously trying to continue the tour. Did she have to sound so enthusiastic about <em> summer school </em> of all things, though? Ben hung back a moment to glare at the girl before following his family. </p><p> </p><p>“Summer and school. There’s two words that should never be used together.” He quipped as he caught up to Gwen and their Grandpa. Gwen only shot him a dirty look, making him pause. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>As they walked between a building and it’s supportive columns Ben didn’t pay too much mind to the long shadows the supports trailed up the wall or to the shadows he and the others were casting. Until out of the corner of his eye he saw something. Instead of his own shadow tailing him it was Ghostfreaks. Ben stopped in his tracks and quickly turned to where he’d seen the ghostly silhouette. </p><p> </p><p>It was gone, just his own shadow stood in its place, as it should. It was just the dream, the nightmare, it freaked him out a lot and he was still pretty tired so of course he’d be seeing things… And hearing things based on his dream, right? That had to be it. It wasn’t like he was going crazy or anything. Ben rubbed his eyes, just to make sure what he was seeing was real. Still just his shadow. Of course it was. What else would it be? “Grandpa’s right… I just need a little sleep…” He reassured himself. Come on Tennyson, pull it together. </p><p> </p><p>Ben ran to catch up with his family, finding them just as they were led into what was probably the most boring and sterile classroom he’d ever seen. “And this is our science room.” Their guide announced, a nauseating amount of pride oozing into her voice as she spoke. Gwen ran over to some big device that Ben didn’t recognize and fawned over it. </p><p> </p><p>“Woah! An electron microscope!” The red head clasped her hands together under her chin as she gazed at the overgrown microscope. Really? This is what she got excited over? They’d kicked tons of bad guy butt, been on an evil alien spaceship, and a microscope was the big deal? What. A. Dweeb. Gwen looked back at the girl guiding them through the campus, her look of excitement fading upon seeing her glaring back. </p><p> </p><p>Ben decided to ignore this, even though a part of him was a bit peeved that this girl was making his cousin feel like a loser. Only he could do that! But he wanted to distract himself from his growing unease, and the only other things in the room to really look out were some test tubes and vials and stuff on bunsen burners. Maybe some of them were beakers? Was there really any difference? </p><p> </p><p>He stopped to look at a particularly big glass container left over a burner, liquid still inside it. The fluid within started to change color, and for a moment Ben just wondered if that was normal. All thoughts of normalcy, however, went out the window when a familiar purple eye appeared within, accompanied by that voice he knew all too well.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>“Let me OUT!” </em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>The burner under it suddenly sprang to life, heating the demented beaker and making it foam and bubble. Ben did the only thing he could do. He yelled “Leave me alone!” and smacked the glass off the burner, off the table, and onto the floor where it shattered and spilled the fluid within at the feet of the preppy girl. And boy did she not look amused. </p><p> </p><p>Without him really noticing Gwen scootched up beside him, laughing nervously. “That’s my cousin!” The fake jovial tone was enough to make his stomach churn, if it weren’t doing that already. The headlock and noogie he received next was just as unwanted, but he didn’t have the heart to fight it. “Always joking!” </p><p> </p><p>Without warning all the bunsen burners in the room flickered to life, their flames growing and growing until the heat was so intense that the glass that sat atop them started shattering around them. Gwen let out a cry of surprise and let him out of the headlock. Once free Ben backed as far away as he could from the chaos. </p><p> </p><p>This wasn’t him seeing things. This wasn’t him being tired. They saw it too, they were reacting. So if this was real that meant-</p><p> </p><p>“Ben! What are you doing?” His grandpa asked, as if he could just magically make glass break without going alien! </p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t do it!” Ben cried, tearing his gaze from the destruction to his grandpa. “It was Ghostfreak!” There really was no denying it anymore, too many weird things had happened all at once. And it all involved Ghostfreak! </p><p> </p><p>A shrill alarm sounded and the sprinklers finally kicked in. Comically enough their guide was standing right under one and wound up getting soaked. Okay, that took the edge off a bit, although he swore he could hear a familiar, raspy snicker. “This is not going to reflect well on your application,” The girl began, looking very much like a drowned rat. “Bancroft is a no <em> freak </em>zone.” She spat. His cousin hung her head while the other girl started to walk out of the room.</p><p> </p><p>Okay, weird Ghostfreak stuff or not, that was NOT cool! She didn’t get to call Gwen a freak! Only they could call each other that! Ben grit his teeth and lifted his hand. “Hey-!” But the girl didn’t pay him any mind, she was already outside. </p><p> </p><p>Gwen raced after her, “I am <em> so </em>sorry about my cousin!” She said once she’d caught up with her. To her credit, their tour guide stopped and actually turned to look at them. “Actually we’re not even related!” Wow, really Gwen? “I’m pretty sure his parents found him at a zoo or something.” It was an obvious lie, but it seemed like she was getting desperate, and she knew it. His cousin actually looked a bit ashamed, whether it was from telling such an obvious lie or for throwing him under the bus he couldn’t tell. </p><p> </p><p>“At BA it’s as important who you are as what you’ve done,” The other girl pointedly looked around Gwen at Ben. “You know, if you’re a person from a <em> quality </em> family.” And with that she turned on her heel and stalked away from them. </p><p> </p><p>It took a few moments for the encounter to really sink in for the Tennyson kids, Gwen got over it faster and immediately turned her frustration on Ben. She advanced on him, hands ready to grab and throttle him while the boy had his hands up in a pitiful fighting stance. “Benjamin Tennyson I’m gonna-” Before she could finish her threat a crash rang out from a nearby building. They both turned their heads in the direction it came from. </p><p> </p><p>Ben, thinking quickly, simply said “I better check that out!” Before dropping into a near sprint towards what looked like the gym of the school. Once inside he stopped a moment to look at the trophy case, melted through with a very obvious empty spot left in its wake. While he was stopped he heard it, voices, laughing, just past the door nearby. Throwing open the door he found three familiar, freaky faces waiting for him. “You again?” He exclaimed upon seeing Zombozos circus freak henchmen. </p><p> </p><p>The big dumb one with a thumb for a head looked over at him, what was his name again? Thumbskull? More like ‘Numbskull’ if you asked Ben. “Hey! It’s that kid that took down Zombozo!” His companions turned to look at him now. </p><p> </p><p>Frightwig, or something like that, stepped forward and put a hand on her hip. “That was a sweet gig working for that clown and you ruined it! Now it’s payback time!” She hissed, her hair twitching in rage. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, a real distraction. Ben started turning the dial on the Omnitrix. “A little Heatblast action should light a fire under you freaks!” He had Heatblast selected, he slammed his palm down on the dial and was enveloped in a green flash of light. But this wasn’t right, he wasn’t Heatblast, he could tell before the transformation was complete. He didn’t feel like himself and he only felt like that when he went- “Ghostfreak?! I didn’t pick you!” The raspy voice he’d come to dread betrayed the immense panic he felt.<br/><br/></p><p><b><em>“Finally.” </em> </b>The thought was as clear as day in the boys head, too bad it wasn’t his. </p><p> </p><p>“Nice trick kid,” Acid Breath, the third freak, said as his hulking friend started to tear up bleachers from the side of the gym. Thumbskull hurled the mass of wood and metal at him, at Ghostfreak, and for all intents and purposes it appeared as though he, or they rather, had been hit. Acid Breath followed up the crushing force with his namesake, spraying his disgusting acidic breath on the splintered debris. “But we ain’t scared of no ghosts.” He quipped once it was all melted. All three of them started laughing, but they wouldn’t be for long.</p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“Let me show you how you deal with these freaks,” </em> </b> Ghostfreak told him as he, they, rose through the ruined floor before becoming tangible once more. Ben realized then that he <em> hadn’t </em> thought to go intangible to avoid the attacks, he had been too shocked to do anything. Or maybe it wasn’t shock… Because his body was moving and he wasn’t the one moving it. He finally understood why he never felt right when he went Ghostfreak, why he sometimes didn’t act like himself in the alien ghosts form. Ghostfreak was alive and aware, and he was making sure Ben knew it. “You should be.” The alien hissed back at the freaks, his single eye narrowing to a slit before he charged at their enemies. </p><p> </p><p>Max and Gwen rushed in through another entrance just in time to see the beginning of the fight. “It’s those circus freaks!” Their grandpa exclaimed. The two stood back, watching what they thought was Ben fight the villains. </p><p> </p><p>Acid Breath spat more of his corrosive spit at the alien, but the attack was easily avoided as he sank back into the ground, disappearing from view. Before the freak had the time to take so much as a step he was flung all the way across the gym and into the wall, the heavy mat he’d been standing on quickly slamming him back into the wall before he could even drop to the floor. <b> <em>“He’s not going to be getting up anytime soon.” </em> </b> The aliens voice cackled in Ben’s head.<br/><br/>Thumbskull approached the alien from behind, about to put him in a hold. Ghostfreak eyed him and lazily floated out of his reach, turning invisible as he did and leaving the behemoth confused, and to Ben he actually looked a bit scared. When they reappeared it was behind the large freak, the alien sinking his hands into his victims head, making him scream in pain. <em> “Stop it! You can’t do this!” </em> Ben yelled within his, or maybe it was their, mind. <b> <em>“I can and I will, and you will learn from this, boy.” </em> </b></p><p> </p><p>While they were distracted Frightwig threw her dangerous locks at Ghostfreak, successfully wrapping them around one of the aliens hands. “Really now?” He scoffed, gripping her strange hair and dropping back through the floor, this time pulling her with him and face first into the hard floor. His arm came back up through the ground, grabbing her by the head and slamming it an additional few times into the hard linoleum. Harder than necessary <em> “STOP! This is going way too far!” </em> <b> <em>“You think this is too far, boy? You ain’t seen nothing yet.” </em> </b></p><p> </p><p>“Something’s wrong,” Max said, watching in horror as his grandson beat the circus freaks mercilessly. “I’ve never seen Ben so vicious.” Before he could stop her Gwen ran up to what they still thought was Ben. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re trashing the whole gym!” She cried, her earlier aggravation surfacing, although there was a layer of what almost sounded like desperation in her voice. “Are you TRYING to ruin my chances of getting accepted here?! Ben! Answer me!” Her fists were clenched and they were trembling. </p><p> </p><p>Ghostfreak turned to face Gwen, far too quickly for her liking, his single eye narrowing as he gave a chilling answer. “Ben’s not here.” He then made a lunging motion towards her, though his sharpened claws turned rounded and boneless as he did. The sudden threatening movement was all that was needed to scare the girl, making her fall back onto the floor as she let out a cry of fear. The alien straightened his posture once more and cackled. </p><p> </p><p>That cackling was cut short when a punching bag was thrown into him at full force, knocking him into the ground. Thumbskull was back on his feet and had grabbed up Acid Breath before making a run for it. Frightwig was right behind him, turning for just a moment to fearfully look behind them before continuing to run after her companions. </p><p> </p><p>Ghostfreak snarled as he phased through the broken remains of the bag, glaring at the retreating freaks. “I guess they didn’t learn their lesson.” Ben could feel the aliens rage, it seemed so disproportionate to what had caused it. Especially seeing as Ghostfreak had done far worse to them without an ounce of mercy. The alien that had hijacked his body gave chase to the bad guys, an angry growl leaving him. </p><p> </p><p>If there was one thing going for the circus freaks, it was that Ghostfreak wasn’t particularly fast. While he was slowly gaining on them their headstart had been just enough to save them as a familiar beeping started. <em> “Yes!” </em>“NO! I’m not going back!” The alien clutched his head and veered off from his pursuit. </p><p> </p><p>With one final beep a brilliant flash of red light enveloped the area and Ben was left standing alone. He looked around, just to make sure he was really there and that he didn’t have any unwanted guests. When he was sure he was alone the boy let out a relieved sigh. “Woo! Man, I’m glad to be rid of that freak!” </p><p> </p><p>An enraged roar filled his head and Ben doubled over, pressing his hands to his ears in a vain attempt to block out the sound. It’s no use though, it’s hard to block out something that’s <em> in your own head </em> . Finally the angry screaming stopped and Ben let out a pained groan. <b> <em>“Get up, boy.” </em> </b> Ghostfreak hissed in his mind. <b> <em>“We have things to talk about.” </em> </b></p><p> </p><p>“Ugh… Now that you’re done screaming?” Ben grumbled as he rubbed at his ears. “What was all that? Who are you?!” The voice in his head growled. </p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“I’m going to say this now and I’ll only say it once: My name. Is not. GHOSTFREAK!” </em> </b> The animosity in that last word was enough to make Ben cringe and actually back up, though the one responsible for it wasn't exactly in a position to do anything to him. <b> <em>“My name is Zs’Skayr, and I won’t answer to anything else.” </em> </b>The boy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, letting out a huff. </p><p> </p><p>“Alright <em> Zs’Skayr </em>,” His mocking tone was met with another angry growl. “So? What was all that?!” He asked again. </p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“You’re going to have to be more specific.” </em> </b> Oh, the alien was <em> definitely </em>smug about this. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh, I dunno… How about you beating the circus freaks like that? How you’re able to just… Control me like that! How’re you in the watch at all?!” Ben exclaimed, balling his fists and gritting his teeth. </p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“Perhaps you should ask these questions in your head, Ben. It wouldn’t look good for you to be yelling at no one.” </em> </b> The voice cackled, making the boy glance around him. There was no one around… So far. Ben started moving as the alien in his head, Zs’Skayr, started talking again. <b> <em> “Let’s go in order, shall we? I’ll admit, your work with the Omnitrix has been… Interesting to watch. For a literal child of a technologically inferior species you’ve picked things up rather quickly. But the way you handle these ‘villains’ is laughable.” </em> </b></p><p> </p><p>“Uh… Thanks, I guess?” Ben said, once again, out loud while raising a brow. “What’s wrong with how I handle these losers?” He asked, letting out another huff. </p><p> </p><p><b><em>“You beat them around a little, but only enough to stop them in the moment. And then you just let them get thrown in ‘jail’.”  </em></b>The emphasis he put on the last word was some cross between mocking and insulted. What was even the deal with that?</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, and?” </p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“And what do they do? They escape, they return to their lives of crime, and often they come after </em> </b> <b> <em>you</em> </b> <b> <em>.” </em> </b> Ben stopped at some fancy schmancy decorative pond and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw his reflection. Or rather <em> their </em> reflection. Behind him, in the water, was the ghostly alien, somehow managing to look… Bored? Annoyed? Some combination of the two? The ten year old looked behind him to find… Nothing. <b> <em>“I’m only in your mind right now, boy. Now listen: If you’re soft on these types they’re not only going to keep coming back to what they know, they’ll come after you AND your family.” </em> </b></p><p> </p><p>“Okay, and just what am I supposed to do? Go all over board like you did?” Ben shot back, watching the alien in the pond. His eye narrowing as he released another vicious cackle, his shoulders shaking in mirth. </p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“It’s always worked for me. When you beat them down, you make them </em> </b> <b> <em>suffer</em></b><b><em>, make them fear the very thought of you and they won’t be back.” </em> </b> Zs’Skayr’s reflection appeared to move closer, his eye wide and his pupil becoming a pinprick. <b> <em>“And believe me. They don’t come back. Not if they want to keep living.” </em> </b></p><p> </p><p>Ben lurched forward, pointing his finger right in the aliens face. “No way! I’m a hero! I <em> don’t </em> work like that!” The alien retreated to his spot behind the boy in the reflection, seeming uninterested in his response. “Are you rolling your eye?” He set his jaw and glared at Zs’Skayr. “Seriously? Aren’t you the adult here?” Ben paused for a moment as a thought occurred to him. “... You... Are an adult, right?” </p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“Of course I am.” </em> </b> The alien was looking at him, unamused. <b><em>“Now, as for your other questions, I’ll answer those in due time.”  </em></b>Zs'Skayr literally just waved him off, what was this guys deal!?</p><p> </p><p>If one had asked Ben if an alien with no face besides a single eye could look smug he would have told you that no, that’s stupid. And yet here he was, glaring at one smug, one eyed, no faced alien. “In due time? What’s wrong with right now?” Ben shot back. </p><p> </p><p><b> <em>“Why don’t you ask your grandfather and cousin.” </em> </b>Zs’Skayr said, gesturing behind them. Before there was any time to ask what the alien meant by that he heard his grandpa call for him. </p><p> </p><p>“Grandpa!” Ben abandoned the pond, and the creepy visage of his unwanted guest, to run back to his family. “You are <em> not </em>going to believe this!” He called to them. The moment he got close enough Gwen pushed him back angrily. “Ow! Hey!” </p><p> </p><p>“You doofus! What was that!” Gwen said, tone accusatory, but there was a weird tremble in her voice he wasn't used to hearing. “You scared us!” </p><p> </p><p>“You aren’t the only ones.” Ben looked down at the Omnitrix for a moment, brows drawing together the longer he stared at the alien device. <b> <em>“Go on, boy, we don’t have all day.”</em> </b> He sighed and looked back up at them. “Guys… You know how I never feel… Right when I’m Ghostfreak?” There was a growl and it took Ben a moment to realize it was within his own head. Oh yeah. He didn't like that. Well too bad!</p><p> </p><p>Grandpa Max nodded. “I know you’ve never felt comfortable as him. Why? What is it, Ben?” Gwen scowled and crossed her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you gonna explain why you’re always even more of a jerk than usual when you’re him, Tennyson?” She huffed. Okay, that brought a grin back to his face, especially when he heard the sound of his unwanted companion scoff. </p><p> </p><p>“Kinda, yeah. He says his name’s Zs’Skayr.” Ben watched his cousin and grandpa exchange shocked looks. </p><p> </p><p>“Ben… You need to tell us everything.” Max said, fixing his gaze on the alien device. If an alien was actually conscious inside of it, what would that mean for Ben? And was ‘Zs’Skayr’ the only one?</p>
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